Self-Publishing Questions and Answers, Round Two

self publishing question-1500086_960_720I wrote a post back in March answering some of the questions I most often see asked in writing groups and discussion forums. It seemed to be helpful, so after coming across more questions with iffy answers, I thought I should go for round two.

The first question is one I actually addressed in a post about book formatting back in May of 2016, but I’ve seen it asked so much lately, I thought it couldn’t hurt to repeat it.

Q.  No matter how many times I accept track changes in Word (or remove my header/footer), everything is still there when I upload to KDP. Do I have to retype the whole thing? Continue reading “Self-Publishing Questions and Answers, Round Two”

Our New Book Formatting Resource Page

ebook and print book formatting reading-1249273_960_720Here at Indies Unlimited, we are always striving to bring our readers more resources to help them on their writing, publishing, and marketing journeys. Our goal is to help authors do everything themselves (except for editing!) so they can put out professional books at as low a cost as possible. Today we hand the floor over to Caleb Clayton of Caleb’s Formatting Service who took the time to produce an excellent Book Formatting Resource page for us. The resource page will be located in our drop-down menu – but today you can read it below. – The Admin.

Yes, you can format your eBook and paperback in Word. Not too long ago, I wrote a post for Indies Unlimited offering tips – Tips for Formatting Your Book Correctly in Microsoft Word – and Melinda Clayton (yes we’re related) has also given some handy formatting tips in this article – Drop Caps, Indents, and Other Formatting Tricks in Word.

And it’s still true. You can absolutely format your eBook or paperback in Word, but there are some steps that need to be followed. Continue reading “Our New Book Formatting Resource Page”

eBook Formatting in Word: You Can Do This

Microsoft Word LogoThe debate continues, but I’m back to tell you yes, you can format and upload your eBook manuscript in Microsoft Word. My last post led us through the process of getting rid of all the junk, hidden code, and other weirdness . Now we’re ready to format.

There are many ways of performing the same action in Word. I start with setting up my styles. Continue reading “eBook Formatting in Word: You Can Do This”

Preparing Your Microsoft Word Document for eBook Publication

Microsoft Word LogoThere’s an ongoing debate on the Kindle Direct Publishing forum regarding formatting and uploading eBooks in Microsoft Word. Some believe it can’t be done. Others insist it can. I’m on the “can” side of the debate. The key is in making sure your document is free of any hidden code, markups, page breaks, etc.

Today, I’ll take you through clearing your manuscript of anything hidden that will cause problems during the conversion process once uploaded KDP.

A couple of things to know before starting: Continue reading “Preparing Your Microsoft Word Document for eBook Publication”